Let's Play a Game
by GirlwithCurls98
Summary: Ahsoka trains, and Anakin tries out a new teaching method. References/Parodies of Saw movies. No blood or gore, don't worry. Hope you enjoy!
1. The Rules of the Game

I stretched out on the floor of the training room, willing my tense muscles to relax and warm up. I rolled my shoulders back, luxuriating in the warm beams of morning sun seeping through the window. It looked to be a beautiful day, and my energy was high. I was raring to get to work and get stuff done.

"Good morning, my young Padawan!" Master Skywalker called, entering the room. I looked up at him and smiled. "Mornin' Master!" I replied with equal enthusiasm.

"You warmed up already?" he extended a black gloved hand. Nodding, I took it, and let him pull me to my feet.

"Good, because today is going to be a long day of training."

"Sparring or calisthenics?" I bounced eagerly from foot to foot, waiting to see what he had in mind.

"Neither."

My face fell, and I looked up at him with an expression of utmost confusion.

"Today's lesson is going to be both fun, and practical, but you have to pay attention, and play by the rules, understood?"

I was instantly wary, but I couldn't refuse. I was too curious to say no, and I didn't have much of a choice.

"Alright, Snips. Today, we're going to play a little game. It's designed to prepare you in the event that you are captured by enemy troops. You'll have to keep calm, and use your brains as well as your brawn to win."

"Sounds like fun." I conceded, letting my guard down a bit. "How do you play?"

He gave a sly smile. "It's very simple. I'll give you a dose of knockout gas."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

He put his finger to his lips. "I'll explain if you let me finish. The gas is harmless, but it will knock you out for about five minutes. When you wake up, you will find yourself in restraints on that side of the room." He gestured with one hand to the far corner.

"Your goal is to successfully free yourself from the restraints, retrieve your utility belt, and cross to the opposite side of the room. Placing both hands on the wall ends the exercise. Make sense?"

I thought it over. _It actually sounds fun. You not only have to have the strength to escape, but the mental capacity to figure out how in the first place. I've picked locks before, this ought to be a piece of cake. _

"Seems easy enough."

His eyes lit up and he gave another devilish smile. "That's where you're wrong Snips. It does seem easy. There are five levels, and each level gets a little bit harder than the rest. Oh, and there's a catch."

I raised one eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest. "Oh? What's the catch?"

He grinned. "There is only one rule. Escape and end the exercise in under two minutes, or we reset and start over. Plus, you'll run a lap for every 30 seconds you go over time."

My eyes widened. I remembered him saying that today was going to be a 'long day of training'. _What did I get myself into?_

"Think you can handle it Snips?"

I had no clue, in fact, I was unsure about this whole 'game' to begin with. But instead of bowing out, I go for the cocky confident approach.

"Bring it on!"

At this, he pulls out a canister and a gas mask. I steel myself as he fits the mask to my face and activates the gas. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart, and I instantly get drowsy. I try to fight it, but eventually I accept that it's futile. I surrender to the drug, and it pulls me under. The last thing I remember hearing is Anakin's voice.

"Let the game begin."


	2. Level 1

When I start to wake up, I realize that Anakin had not been entirely accurate in his description of the knock-out gas. It didn't do any visible damage, but had left me with a raging headache.

I used the Force to numb some of the pain, and come to instant alertness. I open my eyes and realize that I cannot see. I don't hear or smell anything either. _Relax, _ I tell myself, as panic starts to rise within me. _It's just a game. Think. Where are you? _

I shift for a moment, realizing that I'm resting on my knees. I concentrate, and conclude that I'm blindfolded. My hands are bound behind me, in what feels like a common pair of binders. My legs are not bound at all, but I am barefoot, my boots having disappeared.

"Alright Ahsoka, first level." Anakin's voice echos through the room. "Grab your utility belt and get to the wall within two minutes. Begin."

Immediately, I spring into action.

I get to my feet and remove my blindfold using the Force. My sapphire eyes dart about the room, my brain using the sense it was deprived of to take in information at lightning fast speed.

My utility belt is hanging on a hook on the wall, several feet off the ground, and there's a large hole in the floor directly beneath it.

My mind starts to race. _Take a running start, jump up to grab the belt, use lock-pick in belt to remove cuffs, reach wall. _ Within just a matter of seconds I had my plan. I flipped once, bringing my arms up and over my head so that my hands were now in front of me.

There was no time for hesitation. I took a step back and started running full speed at the wall. A foot from the edge of the hole, I leaped into the air and grabbed my utility belt. I kicked off the wall, executed a perfect back flip, and landed on my feet.

Which promptly slid out from under me as I realized , too late, that there was some sort of oil coating the floor. I tried to stand up, scrambling, driven by the will to finish in time. I lost my balance yet again, falling forward this time and sliding face first into the pit. It was wide, eight feet deep and filled with a sticky, foul-smelling, black gunk.

I was now coated in the awful stuff, but I didn't have time to contemplate it's contents. Instead, I found my lock-pick and made short work of undoing my bonds. This done, I clicked my belt around my waist and pushed myself up and out, using the Force to help me reach the top.

Though it smelled horrible, the gooey substance kept me from sliding, and I dashed across the room. Practically colliding with it, I slammed both my hands on the wall and sunk to the floor, breathing hard.

A large hose came out from the ceiling and began spraying the floor with water, allowing the oil and goo to flow down the drain in the middle of the room. I quickly moved to stand under the icy spray, and washed away the sludge before it dried and became my second skin.

I went back to the wall and sat, praying I had made it in time. If this was only the first level, I wondered what nightmarish hell awaited me in level 5.

To my delight, Master Skywalker entered a few moments later, with a wide smile on his face.

"Great job Snips! You did better than I expected!" He sits down beside me while I wring out my clothes.

"What was my time?"

"1:37. Not bad, for your first time. How do you feel?" He asked, resting a hand on my knee.

"Taken by surprise." I reply, my heart rate finally coming back to normal. "I hadn't expected that."

"Ah, now that is the key. You must prepare for the unexpected."

I roll my eyes. "The goo was a nice touch."

He smiles. "Do you know what that was?" I shake my head, unsure if I really want to know.

"Just some fertilizer for the gardens." he replies nonchalantly. I pause for a moment, putting two and two together.

"Was that..." I cringe slightly, praying that I'm wrong, "...animal fertilizer?"

He says nothing, merely smiles and winks at me.

"Yuck!" I cry, leaping to my feet, trying to rub off any microscopic remnants that may remain. "That's gross Skyguy!"

He stands and laughs at my horrified and annoyed expression. "And yet, you didn't think about it until now. That's a good thing, Ahsoka. It means you have a valuable piece of the Jedi puzzle: the survival instinct."

"Yay for me." I mutter, still shuddering inwardly. Curiously, I start to feel very drowsy, and I sway, struggling to keep my balance.

"Master, something's wrong." I say. With kind eyes, he wraps an arm around my shoulder and helps me sit against the wall.

"It's alright Ahsoka." He whispers softly. "Just relax, Ahsoka, don't fight it."

I look up at him, my vision beginning to blur. "Master?"

His voice becomes very distant, but I manage to make out one last thing.

"Prepare for the unexpected."


	3. Level 2

I woke slowly, trying to figure out what had happened. Breaking through the wave of pain that rolled through my head, I thought back to the last thing I remembered.

_Anakin...talking to me...his hand on my knee...injected...drugged...game...game!_

I'm lying on my side, and I immediately roll over, trying to get back to alertness, to get my head to stop pounding, to get free, to get up, to do anything.

And in doing so, I roll straight into a pool of icy water.

_Ankles, wrists, mouth taped. Swim, fight, get to surface, hurry, need air!_

All of this comes crashing down on me at once. I start flailing, panicked, my brain having no control over my muscles.

**_STOP. RELAX._** I practically scream in my head. Instead of struggling, I find myself slowly floating. As my eyes dart around, I catch a glimpse of silver at the bottom of the pool.

I try to quicken my descent, and my racing heart leaps with joy when I realize what it is. I slit my bonds with the knife and stroke hard to the surface as spots swim before my eyes. I break through the surface of the water and gasp for breath, coughing and sputtering, clutching the side of the pool for dear life.

I pull myself out and curl into a ball, spitting up more and more water. The chlorine in it burns my throat, and I rub my eyes, trying to clear the blurriness.

_Finish. _I tell myself. _You must finish. _ I had no clue how much time had passed, but I could not just give up.

I look up and finally take in my surroundings. My belt rests inside a glass box, which I waste no time in smashing open, ignoring the bits of glass that find my patches of exposed skin and embed themselves into it.

Using my last ounce of energy I have, I jog to the wall, slam my hands on it, and sink to my knees.

After a few minutes, my head begins to clear and I seem to have cleared all the water out of my stomach. I sit down against the wall and start picking the glass out of my skin, watching as thin beads of blood appear and snake down my body along with the water, staining the pool beneath me red.

_Ouch. _ I think. _But I brought this on myself. Probably was an easier way to do it, but I could barley see straight, much less think. _

Anakin enters the room beaming from ear to ear. "That was fantastic Ahsoka! You were under a minute, thirty seconds!"

I look at him with a look so hostile and unforgiving it could have killed him where he stood.

"Bite me." I snarl.

His expression shifts, from pride to confusion, and I realize that he is oblivious to the source of my anger.

"What's got you so worked up Snips?"

I stand, hands on hips, flinging water droplets everywhere.

"Number 1, you drugged me! Without me knowing! That's not fair!"

"Was it in the rules?"

I pause, thrown off. "What?"

"Was. It. In. The. Rules?" He repeats, enunciating carefully.

"You didn't mention it." I say, wondering what angle he is trying to play.

"All is fair in love and war. Enemies won't play by the rules, Snips, sooner you learn that, the better."

I frowned, realizing he had an excellent point. _Damn. _So I regrouped and retorted. "But I still could have drowned and died! Does that mean anything?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I would have stepped in long before that. I had monitors on you and a med droid standing by. You were perfectly safe."

I fall silent. He had me, but I was still majorly ticked.

He reached out a hand to touch my shoulder, but I instantly recoiled back.

"Sharp as a tack Ahsoka, I knew you'd figure it out. It's alright this time, it'll be just like the first level."

I shake my head, not believing a word he said.

"Good, Snips. You learned another lesson. Trust is earned, not given."

"You're right about that. Now, can we get on with this game?" I snap, my patience wearing thin.

"You sure you're okay? You don't want to get cleaned up first?" He asks, gesturing to my tiny wounds.

"I'm fine. Let's just do this."

He sighs and pulls out the mask again. "Don't make things harder than they need to be, Ahsoka. It's just a game."

I nod, and steel myself, before sinking into the black oblivion of a drug induced sleep, one where there are no dreams, no nightmares, absolutely nothing at all.


	4. Level 3

At this point in the exercise, I knew what to expect. When I regained consciousness, I used the Force to stop the impending headache before it started. I sat up and looked around, assessing the situation. My hands were locked in front of me, trapped in an unfamiliar device. On it was a timer, which was counting down.

I scrambled to my feet, trying to formulate a plan of attack.

The only other item in the room was a remote at my feet. I picked it up, and unwrapped a piece of white paper that was pinned to it. On it, in scarlet letters, was this message.

**Ahsoka, **

**The device in front of you can open your cuffs. If you put in the right combination. Every time you get it wrong, they will tighten. I'll give you this one hint, the combination is in the back of your mind. **

I dropped the note and looked at the device. It looked like a normal remote, with numbered buttons.

_Alright, think. What could the combination be?_

I steeled myself and punched in the numbers that corresponded with my birth date. Then I hit enter.

A red light flashed and the pressure around my wrists increased.

_Damn. _ I thought. _What else?_

__I tried 'Ahsoka', 'Anakin', 'Snips', 'Jedi', nothing seemed to be working. My time was running out, and the pain was becoming unbearable.

I gave it one more try, punching in random numbers. The cuffs dug even farther into my wrists and blood started to trickle down my arm. A message on the remote screen popped up.

**YOU HAVE EXCEEDED YOUR NUMBER OF TRIES**

Then it went black. Frantic, I tried to get the device to respond, but nothing worked. Screaming, I threw it down.

In a total panic, I ran to the wall. Slamming my still bound hands against it. "Dammit Skyguy! Let me out! I can't do this, get me out of here!"

I pounded the wall with my fists. "Please!" I begged, desperate. I was beginning to think I would never get out of here. "Master!" I cried.

The door slid open and Anakin ran into the room. He dashed towards me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. It's just a drub, it's not real." he whispered soothingly.

I looked up at him, confused. "What?"

"You're alright Snips, you're okay."

I sank to the floor, holding my bound wrists out to him.

"Shut your eyes." he ordered. I obeyed and felt the pressure around my wrists release. I braced myself of the sight of my injuries. I opened my eyes, but there where only two small puncture wounds on my arms. One on the top of the wrist, one on the bottom.

"I gave you some drugs while you were out to clot the blood quickly if necessary. It also causes fear and anxiety. You need to learn how to draw peace from the Force. Remaining calm is crucial in a survival situation."

I nodded, embarrassed at my loss of control. "I want to try again." I said firmly.

"You sure?" he asked. I nodded, determined to not let this beat me. After a moment's pause, he conceded. "Run your lap, and we'll begin again."

* * *

When I came to the second time, I did not rush into the situation. Instead, I pushed myself up into a meditative pose. I took a deep breath and relaxed as bits of memory floated to me.

_Combination to the lock...in the back of my mind._

I dug deeper, searching for the key.

_Don't make things harder than they need to be, Ahsoka._

"That's it!" I cried, jumping to my feet. _I have to take the clue literally! _

I reached my hands back behind my head and felt around, my hands coming to rest on my padawan braid.

I yanked it off and brought it forward. _It's just the beads. _

I smiled, my sharp eyes finally catching it. The itty bitty, teeny tiny numbers painted on the small beads.

I punched the numbers in. I was rewarded with a whirr, a small click, and the cuffs fell off.

I broke into a run and smacked my hands against the wall.

Anakin came in. "Great job, Ahsoka. Let's break for noon meal, then we can finish up."

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Life gets in the way, but I hope you enjoyed this installment. Ch. 5 to come soon!**


	5. Level 4

After lunch, I raced back into the training room with a new enthusiasm. Master Skywalker had told me one time that the best kind of medicine was a good, hot meal. As I leaped from foot to foot with new fire in my blood and an invigorated spirit, I had to agree with him.

"Snips, are you ready for this one? I think this one is going to challenge you the most." Anakin said, holding me down with one hand as I bounced with excitement.

I stopped, my eagerness diminishing. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, let's just say you're a bit impetuous at times." he said, with a smile. I shot him a look. "I'm only as good as my teacher."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Regardless, this level was specifically designed to deal with your impulsiveness."

"Bring it on!" I exclaimed.

* * *

When I woke, my eyes widened in shock. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in the room. My utility belt sat in the middle of the room, unblocked, unguarded. The path to it and the wall was unobstructed. My hands, my wrists, my ankles, nothing was bound or restrained.

I picked myself up off the floor. _Something is wrong. _ I thought, standing and looking around. _No, no, I can't over think this, I just have to go for it. _

I looked around for a moment and took a tentative step forward. Nothing happened. So I broke into a run, but I barley got a few meters before my skin started to burn. I pulled back, startled.

I moved forward again, and the same section, the same patch of flesh on my arm started to smoke and burn with an agonizing consuming fire.

"What's going on?" I yelled. "Skyguy! Help!" I cried. I got down on all fours and tried to back up, but I felt the same sensation on my ankles, my boots began to smoke and turn black.

Terrified, I pulled my feet back and curled up in a ball on the floor.

"Skyguy just end it! Please just end it! I can't do it!"

I felt a sharp crack on the back of my skull, and I passed out.

* * *

When I woke, Anakin was standing over me, wiping my face with a cool rag.

"Ugh," I groaned. "Wha happened?"

He handed me a canteen and I drank deeply. "You were too impulsive. I told you, the level was designed to curb your tendency to act without thinking."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck with one hand. "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

He smiled. "But I did. The burning you felt, was a hallucination. Brought on by the drugs you came in contact with."

I needed no words. One look, and I made sure he knew how unbelievably pissed I was.

"I told you the levels would get harder Snips."

I rolled my eyes. "Somehow, the term 'hallucinogenic drug' didn't come to mind. Ever."

He smirked. "Remember what I told you Ahsoka, expect the unexpected."

I resisted the urge to flip him off. Instead I folded my arms in front of my chest. "I'm done playing your game Skyguy."

He gave me a very pointed look. "C'mon Ahsoka, just give it one more shot."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll try again." I conceded. "But you have to give me a hint."

He thought for a moment. "Alright. But if I give you a hint, you have to finish the game, deal?"

I thought it over, knowing that I had little option. "Deal."

"Good. You ready to play?"

"Ah, ah, ah. My hint." I demanded.

"Oh right, that." he cleared his throat. "Let's just say that sometimes you can see more with your eyes shut."

I only had a moment to consider the hint before I sunk back into another drug induced sleep.

* * *

When I woke, I got to my feet slowly, very slowly, trying to figure out the clue Master Skywalker had given me.

My belt was in the same place as before, and as before, I was not bound in any way.

I fought the impulse to jump in as I had before, instead, thinking about my hint.

_Sometimes you can see more with your eyes shut? What could that mean? You can't see if your eyes are shut, it's all darkness. _

_Darkness. _

Using the Force, I extended one hand and flipped the light switch to the off position.

Immediately the room filled with light. But not from the glow rods, but from the lines criss- crossing the room, giving off a ghostly green glow.

_Ah ha! Those lasers must contain the drug. I just have to maneuver through them. _

Utilizing my skills as an acrobat, I expertly jumped and tumbled through the maze of lasers, coming to rest perfectly on both feet on the other side of the room, utility belt in hand.

Smiling, I clicked it on, and with a deliberately slowed pace, tapped my hands on the wall.

Anakin came out to congratulate me, if with a smug expression and sarcastic tone. I set my hands on my hips proudly, but something still lingered in the back of my mind.

My greatest challenge was yet to come.


End file.
